PitchTV: Ask Michelle Mone - creator of Ultimo
- May 29, 2009
I’m Michelle Mone - the founder of MJM International and creator of Ultimo lingerie, now the UK’s biggest leading designer lingerie brand. I’m very honoured to be listed as one of the top 3 female entrepreneurs in the UK.
I’ve always been driven and entrepreneurial for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the east end of Glasgow, I left school at 15 yrs old with no qualifications to find full-time employment after my father became ill; I needed to help support the family and I embraced the demands of working life. My very first job was in fact working in a fruit shop at weekends, when I was young girl – I remember being incredibly focused even then and challenging myself to increase my sales week-on-week.
By the time I was 18, after a spot of modelling and promotional work, I took on a job at Labatt Brewers’ and climbed the ranks from office junior to senior manager quite quickly; by 20 years old I was running the Sales & Marketing team and I loved every minute of the fast-paced, challenging environment.
After suffering a major blow of redundancy after 5 years with Labatt Brewers, I was left flat broke and without a job. It was then that I decided to take control of my own future and career by becoming my own boss. In 1996 my idea for the Ultimo bra was born.
While attending a dinner dance with my husband Michael, I was wearing a very uncomfortable cleavage enhancing bra and, as a result, had a ‘light bulb’ moment as they say; I decided to invent a bra that was more comfortable, more innovative, more attractive and more cleavage enhancing than any other bra on the market. I was so excited and thought ‘this is it’, this is what I’m going to do!
I set up MJM International Ltd in November 1996 and in 2000 Ultimo shot to prominence when Hollywood actress Julia Roberts wore an Ultimo gel-bra for her role in US blockbuster Erin Brockovich. The brand snowballed from there really, there was no stopping us; the next thing Ultimo was stocked in Selfridges and we had high-profile models banging down our door to front the brand. Since then we have employed a string of stunning models and celebrities including Penny Lancaster, Rachel Hunter, Helena Christensen, Sarah Harding and currently Spice Girl Mel B and Peaches Geldof.
In 2001 Prince Charles invited me to join the Board of Directors for The Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust and more recently his Board of Main Council. In 2005 I attended a speaking engagement with former US president Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev, and went on to support the Sultan of Oman in setting up women’s enterprise in the Middle East.
Over the years MJM has gone from strength-to-strength, which has been amazing; watching the business grow and expand beyond the Ultimo gel- bra has been incredibly rewarding. The MJM portfolio now encompasses Ultimo D-G Cup, Miss Ultimo, Ultimo Black Label, Ultimo Shapewear, Ultimo Swimwear and partner lines including ‘Diamond Boutique’ for Tesco, ‘Adore Moi’ for Debenhams and ‘Michelle for George’ for Asda.
The past 12 months has been a mammoth year for me. In addition to unveiling Mel B as the ‘face and body’ of Ultimo, I appeared on the hit BBC TV show The Apprentice and signed a deal with Debenhams, launching a further 20 ‘shop in shop’ boutiques throughout the UK. I also took my brand stateside and showed at New York Fashion Week in September 08, the very first UK lingerie brand to make it onto the runway at the annual show, and then secured a £60million deal with Tesco to design and produce an exclusive designer lingerie brand for all their UK stores, Diamond Boutique.
This past month I have unveiled my latest brand, Miss Ultimo, a new collection for young women – it’s been a major success, particularly considering the tough climate. My businesses achievements over the past few months have been testament to the fact that if you have a brilliant product, stay customer focused and continue to be positive and innovate, you will continue to succeed.
I’m delighted to be able to take part in Richard Branson’s blog and would be more than happy to answer some of your questions on entrepreneurship. You can submit your question by adding a comment to this post and l’ll answer some of the very best questions on film as part of Richard’s next PitchTV show on Virgin Atlantic.
